” It took my hanger out and THEN snapped”
Surely thats what you want to happen? You can/should carry a spare mech hanger, but nobody (there are exceptions I know) is likely to carry a spare rear mech with them on every ride
“None of the new mechs appear to have adjustment at the mech end… “
If you back it off before you secure the cable, theres enough at the shifter. Though I agree a mech adjuster is easier/better to use
Don’t buy it for the shadowness, just for the neater, more direct cable routing and that it doesn’t hit the chainstay (whereas in the rough the old style did all the time)
Price rises mean they’ve gone up a bit though
The XT one has an aluminium tensioner, I bent one and have heard of other cases. £45ish on merlin, £62 on CRC!
The SLX one has a steel tensioner, isn’t supposed to bend, but is 30g or so grams heavier than the XT one. But at £32 (from merlin) is cheaper.
I’ll be getting an SLX one next time I smash my XT one into something